


Boys of Summer

by milkwithcalsehun



Category: K-pop, SHINee
Genre: 10/10 can not miss, Comedy, Livetweeting, M/M, Romance, Song Fic Kinda, beach au, kinky jinki is back, lil bit of angst, minho catches shit on fire, minho has an implied threesome before he catches shit on fire, occasional fluffy fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-04 13:38:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6660298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkwithcalsehun/pseuds/milkwithcalsehun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where everything feels like it's falling apart for Key but Jonghyun is always there to pick it up </p><p>or</p><p>Where everyone thinks a roadtrip to the beach is a good idea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boys of Summer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tvxq](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tvxq/gifts).



> ayeeeeeee
> 
> I'm really obsessed with song fics right now so this is kind of a song fic, just a little
> 
> also, this is an early (a little over two weeks early) birthday present for my precious Australian dreamboat whom I love very much.
> 
> please enjoy, friends

Boys of Summer

 

The transition between spring and summer had been a strange one for Key.  Watching one of his best friends graduate high school had been a sort of out of body experience for him, but the weirdest part was in turn moving up a year in school, and realizing that in a year’s time, he’d be graduating, too.

 

It was a proud moment, seeing Jinki graduate, however shocking that it may have been that Jinki even managed to graduate in the first place.  There had also been an element of sadness to it; Jinki was moving off for college, not just leaving the city but also the country, studying abroad in America until he finished university.  Key was losing one of his best friends, which just wasn’t something he would ever be able to come to terms with.

 

-

 

At some point after the graduation ceremony, Key and Jinki, as well as their three other friends, Jonghyun, Taemin, and Minho, sat sprawled out in the floor of Jonghyun’s basement.  Minho, being the rich young master that he was, suggested they all take a trip to the beach, and stay in his parents’ beach house, of course, to have one last hurrah with Jinki before he went to _the forbidden land that Key refused to mention._ After a furious argument on Jonghyun’s part, they all agreed it was a good idea, all except Taemin, who had been asleep with his head in Minho’s lap for the majority of the time they had all been there.

 

They also unanimously decided that Jinki would drive his beat up van, despite protests from Minho saying that he could get them a nice car.

 

“The best memories are made in sketchy vans, Minho, everyone knows that,” Jinki had said, his nose turned up in the air, and that had ended that argument.

 

-

 

They set out a week later, “the boys of summer”, as Jonghyun liked to call them, though they were really just a bunch of teenagers with crying mothers who didn’t even want them to leave to the beach for a week.  Key acted like he hated the nickname, which he did, but it was easier to call themselves the “boys of summer” than “Jinki, Key, Jonghyun, Minho, and Taemin”.  It was at least less of a mouthful.

 

Jinki lived by a strict policy of _whoever is driving gets to pick the music we listen to shut up I’m not listening to your complaints_ , which lead to them listening to “Rokugo” by Super Junior fifteen times in a row. 

 

“Jinki, we have two more hours until we even see coastline.  If I hear “Rokugo” one more time, I am going to roll the window down, slide out of this van, and roll out onto the road to my death, which would be more bearable that listening to that song one more time,” Jonghyun whined, and Taemin giggled manically, which was a little chilling considering that he had been asleep the whole time.

 

“My car, my music!” Jinki declared, pointing his hand up to the sky, hitting the roof of the fan with his fist in the process.

 

“We’re going to stage a mutiny if you don’t change the damn song,” Minho said as threateningly as he could muster.

 

“Fine,” Jinki rolled his eyes and switched the song to “Bonamana”.  Jonghyun slammed his head against the window.

 

Key rolled his eyes and rested his head on Jonghyun’s shoulder.  If he was going to be smooshed between a snoring Taemin and a slammy Jonghyun, he was at least going to make the best of it.  He was sure Jonghyun didn’t mind. 

 

Soon enough, the sounds of the ocean began to drown out the Super Junior on repeat that Jinki was playing.  Key was grateful- shout out to the ocean- for the change in audio.  It’s not that Key didn’t like Super Junior or anything like that, it’s just that he knew for a fact that they had more than two songs.

 

Jinki continued to drive through the city, right next to the ocean.  It was beautiful, the way the late-afternoon sun caught the water as it sank into the horizon.  Key really wanted to dive into the water.  He wanted to bury himself in waves and shake off all the uneasiness he had been feeling.  He wanted the water to wash over his skin, to cradle him and assure him that everything would be fine. 

 

Key tried to push his thoughts away.  He hated deep thoughts.  They were worrisome and never left him alone.  He tried to focus instead on the sound of Taemin’s almost inaudible snoring; on the way that Jonghyun’s was slung casually over his shoulder, yet still clinging almost possessively somehow; on the way that Jinki refused to change the song; on the way that Minho’s parents’ beach house was _forever kilometers_ away from civilization and it was taking them forever to get there.  He focused on the simple things to distract him from worrying about the things that weren’t so simple.

 

-

 

After three more rounds of “Bonamana”, they had managed to reach Minho’s parents’ beach house.  Jonghyun nearly jumped out of the van, running and yelling about sweet freedom while Jinki flipped him the bird.

 

“Shut the fuck up, Jonghyun,” Minho said, suddenly acting posh and annoyed.  “This is a well-to-do establishment. Have a little decency,” he said with his nose upturned as he opened up the back door of the van, completely forgetting about Taemin until the youngest boy came tumbling out of the van after Minho had removed opened the door, his only support.

 

“What gives?” Taemin asked, still half asleep and now laying on the ground, dazed and confused.

 

Minho just shrugged in response and bent down to lift the youngest boy up, slinging him onto his shoulders and carrying him like a sack of potatoes to the house, abandoning the luggage that he had originally set out to get.

 

“He says this is a well-to-do establishment but there he goes yanking a young boy out of the back of a van and carrying him into a house.  Shameful,” Jonghyun tsked, shaking his head as Key laughed and Jinki hauled ass so he could get the luggage out of the backseat, checking to make sure there were no teenage boys left back there. 

 

-

 

Minho’s parents’ beach house was unnecessarily huge, with spacious hallways, an expansive kitchen, a common room that took up most of the first floor, three bathrooms, and four bedrooms.  It was less of a beach house and more of a beach mansion.  Fucking rich people.

 

After all the luggage had been brought in and the house had been thoroughly explored, the issue of _aye Minho where the fuck we gon’ sleep there’s only four rooms and five of us_ was brought up.

 

“Whoever has to double should get the master bedroom,” Minho said, even though it looked like had a plan to double by himself and get the master bedroom anyway.

 

“Who wants to double, then?” Jinki asked, and it was silent for a second.

 

“I think Key and Jonghyun should,” Taemin piped up from where he was sleep-standing, propped on Minho’s shoulder.

 

“But,” Minho muttered with a deep voice.  Poor guy really wanted that master bedroom.

 

“Why us, Taeminnie?” Jonghyun asked.

 

“Sexual tension,” Taemin giggled, and then fell back asleep.

 

“Fair enough,” Minho shrugged, and nobody else could argue, not even Key and Jonghyun. 

 

-

 

After the rooms had been settled, Minho insisted on dragging everyone out to the beach, even though it was almost completely dark. 

 

“Minho, I better not step on a fucking crab out here in the dark,” Key warned as threatening as a puppy.

 

“I’m not liable for any damages,” Minho shrugged, his tall ass shoulders almost hitting the top of his tall ass head.

 

“Fight me,” Key grumbled, and Taemin came out of nowhere with a flying judo chop.

 

“Taemin, what the hell?” Key asked, pissed.

 

“I thought the “fight me” was an open invitation. My bad,” Taemin shrugged like was not at all sorry.

 

Jonghyun stepped in and swung his arm around Key’s shoulders, pulling him away from attacking the young boy.  He instead pulled him along the darkness of the coast, occasionally pushing him closer towards the water, laughing and kicking water at him, while Key laughed right alongside, more aggressively trying to push Jonghyun in the water.

 

As the rest of the boys watched them walk along the shore, realization kind of dawned on them.

 

“I see what you mean, Taeminnie,” Jinki said, watching as Jonghyun managed to lift Key up and toss him in the water.

 

“I can see it, too,” Minho nodded as they watched as Key pulled Jonghyun into the water with him.

 

“Sexual tension,” Taemin repeated, grinning widely.

 

“Sexual tension,” Jinki and Minho agreed in unison before turning their attention away for the other two boys, who were becoming to cringey and painful to watch.

 

-

 

The following morning, Key found himself once again on the beach, sitting under an umbrella, sunscreen on his nose and floppy hat and sunglasses on point.  Minho had found it essential that he wake everyone up at the asscrack of dawn for the sake of youth or some shit. 

 

It pissed him off even more that Jonghyun and Minho were so _energetic._ It was infuriating, the way they could run and jump and be annoying as hell so early in the morning.  He could tell Jinki was mad, too, because he kept kicking sand at them like a cat while Taemin had disappeared minutes into their arrival onto the beach. 

 

Key sighed and fell back onto his bright pink beach towel.  He closed his eyes to block the sun, but he could still tell that there was something above him making it darker, so he opened his eyes only to see Jonghyun smiling entirely too widely down at him.

 

“Hey, get up and get your ugly mug out on the beach.  Minho said so,” Jonghyun said.

 

“Do you do everything Minho tells you to?” Key asked, turning away from Jonghyun.

 

“Only when it comes to you, Keybummie,” Jonghyun smiled, sitting down next to Key under the umbrella.

 

“Gross, don’t call me that.  Who are you, my mother?” Key grimaced.

 

“Not quite,” Jonghyun sighed, leaning his head on Key’s shoulder.

 

“What,” Key said, less of a question and more of a show of annoyance, shrugging Jonghyun’s head off his shoulder.

 

“Hey,” Jonghyun complained as his head left the comfort of Key’s shoulder.  Key just shrugged again, pulling his hat further over his face to block Jonghyun out, and for the most part, it worked.

 

-

 

Later that evening, Minho had convinced them that grilling barbeque would be a good idea.  Minho seemed to be full of good ideas that never quite worked out the way he had intended.  Minho also thought that it would be a good idea to bring girls back to the house- only two girls, _just enough for me,_ as Minho had put it- and they both had spent the past half-hour giggling at everything Minho had said.

 

Key had spent the past half-hour hiding on the upstairs balcony, letting the scent of the meat float up and hit his nose, a semi-delicious smell with a slight hint of burning.  He just knew that he didn’t have it in him to socialize at the moment.  He didn’t feel like forcing himself to be happy and smiley and laughing it up with everyone downstairs, making snide comments and sassy remarks.  He got tired of being _Key_ all the time.  Sometimes he wanted to be plain old _Kibum._

After another twenty minutes of hiding and sulking and worrying about things to himself, Key could’ve sworn he was going crazy.  Literally crazy (guilty pleasure), because he could’ve _sworn_ he heard “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas playing softly in the background of the light ocean breeze.  He could hear it over the pop music Minho was playing below.  He could hear it over the waves.  He could hear it over the sound of his beating heart, but he couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, so he just closed his eyes and let the words wash over him.

 

I _close my eyes, only for a moment_

_Then the moment’s gone_

_All my dreams pass before my eyes,_

_A curiosity_

As he listened, he could’ve sworn that he heard another voice mix in, and it sounded specifically _Jonghyun-ish_ and Key opened his eyes only to be met with Jonghyun’s face right above his own.

 

“What are you doing,” Key said, again less of a question and more of a show of annoyance.

 

“You looked lost in thought so I thought you might need some Kansas,” Jonghyun snickered.  “Plus, Min _hoe_ had one girl wrapped around his waist the other wrapped around his lips the last time I peeked my head in to check on the meat, so I ducked out of there.”

 

Key shivered and pulled Jonghyun to sit down next to him.  It was an improvement over Jonghyun staring at him and breathing in his face.

 

_Dust in the wind_

_All we are is dust in the wind_

_Dust in the wind_

_All we are is dust in the wind_

“Stop singing.  It’s distracting me,” Key griped.

 

“From what?” Jonghyun asked.

 

“From thinking,” Key replied.

 

“Is my voice so good that it penetrates your thoughts?” Jonghyun asked, his eyebrows wriggling.

 

“No.  And that’s not a good enough reason to use the word _penetrate_ ,” Key responded, though his voice was that good, almost angelic in the way he sang, and it drove Key insane to the point where his entire mind was just filled to the brim with Jonghyun, Jonghyun, _Jonghyun._

And that was unsettling.

 

-

 

Not long after the initial interruption of Key’s Balcony Thoughts ™ by Jonghyun, a very strong burning smell filled the nostrils of the two boys, and they looked down long enough to witness Minho in a compromising position, the meat on fire behind him, Jinki running towards it with a fire extinguisher, and Taemin taking pictures of the whole things and livetweeting as it happened.

 

@LeeTaeminIsCool

Minho decided it would be fun to grill and then caught our deck on fire #wtf

 

@LeeTaeminIsCool

The deck is on fire with passion and love and so is our food

 

@LeeTaeminIsCool

No but everything is literally on fire

 

@LeeTaeminIsCool

Lmao look @ Minhoe’s dick #godzillaconfirmed

 

@LeeTaeminIsCool

Seriously tho Minho’s dick is huge #whoneedsthatmuchdick

 

@LeeTaeminIsCool

Jinki is now trying to beat the fire down with the fire extinguisher

 

@LeeTaeminIsCool

It’s not working there’s just extra fire now

 

@JonghyunJoggin

@LeeTaeminIsCool Taemin why don’t you help them instead of livetweeting

 

@LeeTaeminIsCool

@JonghyunJoggin #shut #up #don’t #tell #me #how #to #live #my #life

 

@LeeTaeminIsCool

@JonghyunJoggin Get down here and control your #boysofsummer #lol #lame

 

Jonghyun just shrugged and put his phone back in his pocket, slightly hurt about the “boys of summer” comment but not willing to show it.  There was just nro point in Twitter-arguing with Taemin.  The kid was a master.

 

-

 

After the fire was put out, Minho begrudgingly ordered pizza for everyone.  The girls had stuck around for some reason, though everyone in the house besides the girls and Minho had put money down betting that it had something to do with _#godzillaconfirmed_ wink wink.

 

Taemin was the one who ordered the pizzas, which means he was the one that, of course, wrote something unnecessary for the delivery person to do when they brought the pizzas.  When the doorbell rang, Jinki went to the door to pay and take the pizzas, only to be met by a very sad looking delivery boy who handed him the pizzas, took the money, danced the Macarena, and got back in car and sped off into the sunset.

 

“Taemin, what the hell?” a very dazed Jinki asked as he came back into the living room, setting the pizzas down on the table.

 

Taemin just cackled.  “That wasn’t my only request,” he said, as one of Minho’s girls opened one of the boxes and gasped.

 

“What is it?” Minho asked, and Key was mildly interested his damn self.

 

“It’s a really good drawing of an elephant,” the girl whispered, and sure enough, there it was: a huge, detailed drawing of an elephant, scrawled on the inside of the pizza box.

 

“I had the draw zoo animals.  I wanted them to draw dicks but I figured that would be too “inappropriate”,” Taemin rolled his eyes.

 

“I like the zoo animals better,” Jonghyun nodded, taking a slice out of the box.

 

“Please, we all know you prefer dick,” Taemin scoffed and everybody laughed while Jonghyun sputtered but didn’t deny it.  Key just sat with his slice of pizza in hand, looking straight forward and saying nothing.

 

His brain was filled to the brim with Jonghyun, Jonghyun, _Jonghyun._

And it was unsettling.

 

-

 

Later that evening, Jonghyun was lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, his legs twitching.  He lifted his hand and held it above his face and front of his eyes, staring at it, _through_ it, as if his skin were paper.  He could see the white of his bones, the red of his blood as it coursed through his veins, and wondered to himself _What am I even doing?_

 

The door clicked open and Key stepped in, his hair wet from the shower, his skin glistening with water.  Jonghyun sighed and dropped his hand back down beside him, and he looked at Key, but he couldn’t see through him.  He couldn’t see his bones, or the blood running through his veins.  He couldn’t see his thoughts, or the worries in his heart.  He wasn’t paper; he was intricate, opaque, _Kibum._ He was so uniquely Kibum, and in looking at him, staring as he dried his hair, Jonghyun felt like he had found his answer. 

 

“Hey, you wanna go to the ocean?” Jonghyun suddenly asked, interrupting his train of thoughts, and also interrupting Key’s train of drying his hair.

 

“I just took a shower,” Key said, as if it weren’t obvious.

 

“I know but.  Please?”  Jonghyun asked, his puppy-dog eyes on full blast, staring right at Key.

 

“God.  Fine,” Key rolled his eyes and finished drying his hair.

 

-

 

“Why did you want to come down to the beach? Its sandy and dirty,” Key complained.

 

Jonghyun just shrugged and turned some music on his phone on.  A song in English that Key didn’t know filled the space between them, as if they walked in their own little bubble of music.

 

“I just want to know what’s on your mind,” Jonghyun said, and Key looked at him, opening his mouth before shutting it again like a fish, not sure of what to say.  There was so much on his mind, but what was worth saying out loud? Key let the music fill the air, hoping that would buy him time.

 

_There’s nobody on the road_

_There’s nobody on the beach_

_I can feel it in the air_

_The summer’s out of reach_

“Why do you ask?” Key finally responded, trying to look cool in the black of the night, even though he didn’t look cool at all and his ankles were covered in sand.

 

Jonghyun stopped walking and turned towards Key, looked him straight in the eyes and said, “You look a lot like you could shatter in the blink of an eye.”

 

And something in Key just clicked.  Or rather, something in Key cracked, and he fell apart right there in front of Jonghyun, leaning into him and crying on his shoulder, hoping desperately that his tears left a stain.

 

Jonghyun let him cry.  He kept his hand pressed firmly, comfortingly, on Key’s shoulder as the boy sobbed helplessly.  Jonghyun let him cry until he was ready to talk.  He let him cry until he was ready to let him know.  He let him cry until he was ready to ask for help.

 

“Jonghyun, I’m scared,” Key choked out after a few minutes.

 

“I understand,” Jonghyun said calmly, smoothly.  No need to ruffle any feathers.

 

“Jinki is leaving and we’re moving up aa year and then before we know it it’ll be us graduating and where are we going to go? Everything is falling apart.  Our whole group is falling apart.  What happens when we leave? Oh God, Jonghyun, are you going to leave me, too? Are we going to separate? Jonghyun, I don’t want that.  We’ve been together for as long as I can remember. You’ve always been beside me I don’t know what I’ll do if you’re gone Jonghyun you have to promise me you won’t leave me I-“

 

Jonghyun cut him off suddenly, not with words but with his lips, crashing his lips down onto Key’s like a wave.

 

Key gripped tightly onto Jonghyun’s tee shirt, pulling him closer, closer, into himself, pressing his lips against Jonghyun’s as if the boy would disappear any given moment. He clung onto Jonghyun and the music, Jonghyun’s fingers combed through Key’s still-damp hair, and the ocean roared around them as if it were cheering them on.

 

_I can see you,_

_Your brown skin shining in the sun_

_You’ve got your hair pushed back and_

_Your sunglasses on, baby_

 

They only broke the kiss because they had to, gasping for breath, Key’s fingers still gripping tightly to Jonghyun’s shirt.  Jonghyun looked up into Key’s eyes and he knew, he _knew._ And Key stared back at Jonghyun, and he felt _complete,_ somehow, like everything would be alright in the end, and the only that mattered in that exact moment was that his lips were back against Jonghyun’s, and so they were.

 

Lips moved against lips, and it was so _right_ , as Key breathed in the salt of the ocean air and the essence of Jonghyun.  And Jonghyun held him so gently, and Key held him back so tightly, and it was hard to tell where Key ended and Jonghyun began. 

 

Jonghyun pulled his lips away again, and Key attempted to chase after them because he didn’t need to breathe yet, but his lips were met with a fingertip, pushing him back and shushing him as Jonghyun voice joined with the voice on the phone, singing in perfect harmony with it, right a Key, right _through_ Key.

 

“ _And I can tell you_

_That my love for you will still be strong_

_Even after the boys of summer_

_Are gone”_

Jonghyun’s hand reached out to cup Key’s jaw, his thumb gently caressing his cheek, wiping away the old tears and the new ones that were beginning to form.

 

“I meant it, you know,” Jonghyun smiled, brighter than the stars that decorated the sky and made Key feel so, so small but he felt so significant in the light of Jonghyun’s smile.

 

“Meant what?” Key asked softly, leaning into Jonghyun’s touch.

 

“That my love for you will still be strong, even after “the boys of summer” are gone,” Jonghyun grinned, and Key rolled his eyes.

 

“You are so cheesy,” he said, but he was smiling as Jonghyun pulled him down to connect his lips against him once again.

 

-

 

Jonghyun woke up the next morning wrapped in Key’s arms, tightly, his head mushed up into a memory of what it used to be against Key’s chest, his hair wild and his face squished, and it was honestly the best he ever felt.

 

His phone vibrated on the table next to him, and he struggled to free himself from Key’s iron grasp, but he finally managed and grabbed his phone, opening it to see a twitter notification from Taemin.

 

@LeeTaeminIsCool

@JonghyunJoggin #socute #newcouple #isawyoumakingoutonthebeach #iwasrightaboutthesexualtension

 

There was a picture attached to the tweet, and it was of Key snuggled into Jonghyun’s chest in the bed, smiling peacefully as he slept, with Jonghyun’s mouth hanging wide open, his eyes screwed shut and his legs sprawled all over the place. 

 

Lee Taemin was decidedly not cool anymore.

 

-

 

Later that day, they decided to pack up and go home.  Minho had already burned a spot on the deck and had gotten it in (twice).  Taemin gained 2,000 more twitter followers during the trip.  Jinki also got it in, don’t tell Minho, and had plenty of memories to take with him to America.  And as for Key and Jonghyun, well, you already know how that went.

 

Before they set out on the road to home, Minho and Taemin held Jinki down in a chair as Jonghyun held his phone in front of his face and deleted the Super Junior playlist, while Key broke all his Super Junior CDs.  It was for his own good.

 

The ride home was spent in relative silence save for the music playing.  They had used Minho’s playlists this time, and Minho had _good shit_ , so there wasn’t much use of talking.

 

KeyandJonghyunandTaemin were still squished up in the back seat together, and Jonghyun used that as an excuse to discretely grab for Key’s hand and hold it.  Key used that as an excuse to discretely blush and pretend to hate it. 

 

As the music on Minho’s playlist blurred together like the scenery they passed, Key began to slowly nod off, the weight of his constant worrying off of his shoulders.  He would be fine, everything would be fine.  The future was scary.  The unknown was terrifying, but Key knew, as he watched the day turn into night, that he would always have the “boys of summer”, and he would have Jonghyun even after they were gone.


End file.
